Nine out of the world's top 10 institutions that have published the largest number of academic papers on artificial intelligence are based in China, says a report by Stanford University. These include Tencent, Alibaba and Huawei.
Therefore, the United Kingdom cannot be faulted for inviting China to their global AI summit on Nov 2-3. No matter how Western the summit might be, its organizers are not adopting an ostrich policy.
However, British Member of Parliament Iain Duncan Smith has a different take. He is pointing an accusing finger at his government for its decision to invite China. The reason for his ridiculous call is not because he is denying the giant strides China has made in the world of AI, but because of his groundless claim that China uses AI for "surveillance" purposes and because he is daydreaming that the summit must "discuss the already huge and growing threat posed by that country".
At a time when mankind is in dire need of cooperation and must be applying the advanced technologies for the good of humanity, there are some stubborn people who think they can divide the world for their own political gains.
Apart from inventing a nonexistent "threat from China", Smith insists on turning the summit into a field where he can do his politics.
Just two hours after Smith's China-bashing article was published, The Telegraph published another piece, by senior technology reporter Matthew Field, that said China will "play key role in Britain's AI summit despite calls for ban".
Since drafting rules and standards for future AI development is the main focus of the summit, China's presence in it ensures it is not hijacked by certain countries to dictate future rules for AI.